Doreen Lawrence Criticizes The Government Over Racism

Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence has criticized the coalition government for not putting adequate amount of energy to fighting racism in the country.

According to what Doreen Lawrence, whose 18-year-old son was slayed in Eltham, south London, in 1993, told the Guardian “not heard them talk about race.”

At the beginning of this month David Norris, 35, and Gary Dobson, 36, were sentenced to14 and 15 years in prison respectively for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Mrs. Lawrence informed the newspaper: “People take their lead from the government.”

She told the Guardian: “If the prime minister said ‘This is what I’d like to see happen in our society’ …people will try to work towards that. At the moment I’m not sure exactly what they are doing around race.”

Mrs Lawrence also condemned the government for not sending her a letter after the trial “in acknowledgement of what her family has been deprived of for so long”.

Stephen Lawrence’s brother Stuart tells the paper: “David Cameron has not sent my mum a letter saying sorry it has taken so long. It indicates the position of the Conservative regime. I don’t think they care at all.”

Mrs Lawrence, 59, has three grandchildren and she said spending time with them reduced the agony of her son’s loss a little and added: “You can’t think about doom and gloom. You can’t forget so you try to do things, put things in place, to lessen the pain.”

David Norris and Gary Dobson

On the other hand, she said she was annoyed about the manner the general public still treats individuals of African and Afro-Caribbean background.

In order to succeed, “You have to be better than your [white] contemporaries by three or four times,” she claimed.

Highlighting the positive she said,
“Even if you have the qualifications, if their name doesn’t sound English enough then they don’t get an interview, and if they do manage to get an interview they don’t get the job,” she added.

Mrs Lawrence told the Guardian that schools, colleges and the media needs to do more to convey positive stories, instead of holding on to negative ones.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The prime minister has spoken on a number of occasions of his admiration for Doreen Lawrence.

“He recently paid tribute to Mrs Lawrence and her family for the great bravery they have shown and he believes that their tireless fight for justice has helped to change the country for the better.

“He also recently made clear that he believes that although things have changed for the better, there is still a problem with racism in this country and more work to be done to tackle it.”

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